Publications

2022
Article

Pills in a World of Activism and ESG

By: Guhan Subramanian and Caley Petrucci

Easterbrook and Fischel’s The Economic Structure of Corporate Law advances their now famous passivity thesis, which posits that managers should remain passive in the face of an unsolicited tender offer for the company’s shares. Consistent with the broader... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governance Controls; Business and Shareholder Relations

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2017
Book

Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book explores whether profits and environmental sustainability are compatible through the lens of a global history of green entrepreneurship between the nineteenth century and today. It tells the story of the extraordinary and often eccentric men and women who... View Details

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January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction

By: John D. Macomber, Christopher M. Gordon and Ben Creo

A construction company experiences a crane accident with multiple fatalities. The CEO, a client, and an employee must make choices to meet the company's obligations. Set in 2006, the case looks at the choices faced by board members of a museum that is an important... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Crisis Management; Construction Industry

January 2004
Case

Bob Holgrom and the Buyout of the Carlson Division

By: Thomas R. Piper

The head of the Carlson Division stands to benefit substantially in financial terms if a private equity firm wins the bid for the division. The division is in the early stages of a performance turnaround, with only three quarters of profit improvement and no audited... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Corporate Disclosure; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; Performance Improvement

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01 Sep 2004
News

The Wisdom of Crowds

The judgments of many people regarding the merits of a restaurant, hotel, or bar trump a single reviewer’s opinion. That’s the philosophy behind the Zagat Survey leisure guides, and Ted Zagat (MBA 2004) has... View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

06 Oct 2018
News

The cycle of debt among vendors in India and the Philippines

October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

One of Boston's main cultural attractions, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), has experienced a steady decline of its core audience over the last decade. The museum's executive director attempted to bridge the shortfall by staging new, innovative, special exhibitions,... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Growth Management; Innovation Leadership; Capital; Financing and Loans; Service Operations; Consumer Behavior

September – October 2011
Article

The Rise and Consequences of Corporate Sustainability Reporting

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

For many decades the cornerstone of corporate reporting has been financial information that is presented in a company's annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports. These comprehensive financial reports—required by law for public companies in most countries... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; ESG Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Annual Reports; Operations; Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Performance; Business Model; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Disclosure

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2021
Report

The Economic Impact of the Market-Making Internet Advertising, Content, Commerce, and Innovation

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

This research about the economic value of the Internet is conducted approximately every four years and highlights the importance of the internet ecosystem, which enables job creation and market-making opportunities. This highly valued, extensive piece of economic... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Digital Marketing; Innovation and Invention; Communication Technology; Social Media; Advertising; Value; Brands and Branding

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01 Dec 2004
News

A Case of Achievement

in different sorts of organizational cultures and situations produced many interesting insights and observations — and some disagreements — about how to handle the Parson matter. Panelists’ opinions ranged... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

Article

Repairing the Damage: The Effect of Price Knowledge and Gender on Auto-Repair Price Quotes

By: Meghan Busse, Ayelet Israeli and Florian Zettelmeyer

In this paper we investigate whether sellers treat consumers differently on the basis of how well informed consumers appear to be. We implement a large-scale field experiment in which callers request price quotes from automotive repair shops. We show that sellers alter... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Price Discrimination; Automobiles; Field Experiment; Information; Fairness; Price; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Internet and the Web; Gender; Service Industry; Auto Industry

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08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

financial crises (we were lucky to have thought of that over a year ago), and on salesmen. There's been growing interest in the topic of salesmanship over the last several... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

February 2005 (Revised March 2005)
Case

The P&G Acquisition of Gillette

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about the role of boards of directors in compensating CEOs and, specifically, the rewards granted to CEOs for arranging a change-of-control for their companies. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Consumer Products Industry; United States